No matter your age posture problems can cause pain and suffering but there are ways to help improve your posture and reduce the risk of future problems. Yoga is a well-known, low impact exercise method that has been used for centuries to both help and heal bad posture and the pain behind it.

In this Q&A session Hema D’Souza, a professional Yoga personal trainer and teacher in Dubai helps to explain how the regular practice of Yoga can help people with posture problems and even those who are at risk.

Question: Many people in Dubai suffer from bad posture. Sitting at work for extended periods, being over-weight and other factors make the problem worse. How does regularly practising Yoga in Dubai help improve posture?

Due to sedentary lifestyle and work a lot of people in Dubai face these posture problems. Yogasana practice in the right way make the spine supple, eradicate pain and discomfort.

Tight work schedule is the main reason for lacking exercise. For busy people yoga can be done at work in Dubai, chair yoga benefits them. During breaks at work people can plan to do chair yoga for 30 to 45 min which really helps them to change their posture as well good health.

Yoga in the workplace

Question: Many employers in the UAE are looking for better ways to help their employees stay fit and healthy. Do you think Yoga in the workplace could help minimize employee health issues, especially those related to posture (back and neck problems etc)?

Yes, of course. We call it corporate yoga in Dubai. Specially trained yoga teachers and coaches in the UAE guide them how they can do yoga in office itself. According to availability we can schedule class in their office itself.

No need of any big place or mat. We can do it on their chair and standing stretching exercises, breathing techniques, postures which make neck, shoulder and back stronger.

Yogasana helps to overcome from neck and shoulder stiffness.

Yoga for kids and posture problems

Question: As a professional Yoga teacher in Dubai do you think Children’s Yoga can prevent posture related problems as they grow into adulthood?

Of course, yoga for children in Dubai is very beneficial. As a yoga teacher I have seen lot of kids struggle to sit on floor, and struggle to cross their leg in sitting posture.

This might be due to children not sitting on the floor for any length of time, they use comfortable chairs, smooth cushions, a sofa or bed. And this makes their body muscles very weak.

In India or other Asian countries parents make their childrens sit on the floor, play in the floor, have food sitting on the floor, use mat on the floor to sleep.

This makes body muscles stronger and build toned body too. In modern times we tend to provide more comfort and luxury to kids.

Physically children’s muscles and bones become weaker. And it continues in adulthood too.

Less awareness of fitness, lack of walking (in Dubai people never walk even small distances, they tend to only travel in cars) leads them wrong lifestyle. Parents must support kids to do yoga and implement in their kids lifestyle as a routine. Schools and colleges should keep time for yoga.

Many countries introduced yoga in schools, it has become now syllabus to kids. To lead a better life meditation and yogasana helps a lot.

Is Yoga difficult for beginners?

Question: For someone who has never tried Yoga before do you think Yoga poses designed to help posture are too difficult?

For those who have never tried yoga before is it better that they take yoga classes from a professional yoga teacher in the UAE, especially one who has M.Sc in yoga. They have in-depth knowledge about human anatomy and physiology.

They will plan the class according to your health system and need. Warm Up exercises help to open up the body muscles and simple stretching exercises with breathing techniques makes them easy to do yoga.

Beginners yoga I recommend to them, also its better to take some personal yoga session if you looking to practice in yoga studios.

Personal training brings you confidence and motivation easily. I have clients here in Dubai and the vast majority of them never did yoga before and now they are enjoying yoga several times per week. My clients are from 5 to 87 year olds.

Yoga pose example for posture

Question: Can you provide 5 examples of Yoga poses that are good for correcting bad posture and also explain how and why these 5 work?

1- Tadasana

(Mountain Pose) : Standing straight , stomach in, big toes touching each other and looking forward, gazing at one point. While inhaling expanding stomach, while exhaling contracting stomach. Give 10 breathe.

Benefits :

• This posture helps to keep your back straight and stronger.
• Helps to overcome from anxiety.
• It helps to build endurance In the simplest way this practice gives more space for muscle expansion.
• It helps to tone up the leg muscles, also ankles and kees become stronger.
• This posture helps to expand spine, hence back posture will be corrected.
• It help to make your upper body very strong by stretching and expanding muscles.
• It helps to tone up abdominal (stomach) muscles.
• This posture helps to feel your body lighter.

2 – Ardha Chandrasana Basic

(half moon posture) : Stand in mountain pose first. Then while inhaling raise the right hand and while exhaling bend towards left side, hold the position for few sec.

While exhaling bring down the hand. Do the same on left hand too.

Benefits :

• This posture helps to open up the shoulder joints.
• This posture helps to reduce physical and psychological stress
• It helps to reduce fat from stomach, wait, hip and arms and tone up.
• It helps to improve blood circulation.
• It helps to clear blockages in the lungs and improves breathing.

3- Tadasana 2

Stand on the mountain pose first. While inhaling raise the both hands from the side ways upward, join both palm and look up. While exhaling bend forward (if possible keep both palm on the floor and without bending legs touch forehead to the knee joints.) While inhaling raise both hands and join palms, look up.

While exhaling bring down hands from the sideways.

Note: if anybody had back pain perform this posture with knee bend.

Benefits :

• This posture helps to reduce stiffness in the stomach and back.
• It helps to overcome form insomnia and headache.
• This posture helps to stretch hamstring, clave and hip.
• It helps to calm down mind. Improves digestion.

4 – Trikonasana

Stand in mountain pose first. While inhaling spread the right leg to the right side and raise both the hands to the shoulder level simultaneously. exhaling turn right foot to the right side.

While inhaling raise the right hand, exhaling bend towards right food and hold the big toe with 3 finger, turn neck upside and look at the tip of left hand. Breath properly in this position.

While inhaling expand the stomach and exhaling contract. After 5 count inhaling comeup, exhaling turn right foot straight.

Do the same on left side too.

Benefits :

• This posture helps to strengthen the legs, thighs, arms, bank and hip.
• It helps to remove fat from waist, hip and thighs. This helps to reduce blood pressure, anxiety and stress.
• It helps to strengthen shoulder strong, reduce pain in shoulder also help to reduce frozen shoulder.
• It increase the kidney functioning.
• It helps to improve balance and concentration.

5 – Gomukhasana

( cow face pose) : sit one the floor. While exhaling fold the right leg and keep it below left leg crossing backard. Inhale.

While exhaling fold the left leg and keep it on right leg crossing the leg facing backwards. Lift left hand and take it back from upperside then take right hand back from lower side.

Join the hand on back side. Eyesight between eye brows. Breath.

Benefits :

• It helps to overcome from backache.
• It helps to cure shoulder stiffness.
• This posture is good those who have sciatica.
• It helps to keep your back flexible and relieve from the back pain.
• It make cervical area strong.
• Helps to activate kidney and pancreas, hence good for diabetes.